What a Party!

Out they poured…tiny ones, giant ones, white ones, brown ones, thin ones, thick ones, flat ones, puffed ones, plain ones, flamboyant ones, stuffed ones, speckled ones, “…they ran all over …in and out of kitchens, squeaking in their hundreds so that people could not hear themselves speak. They killed all the cats and fought the dogs quite boldly. They were too cunning to be caught in traps. What could be done?” :lol:(from The Pied Piper, an old Tale).

The sweet music from my magic pipe led us all to this Party table, which is now groaning under the weight of poories. And what a party it is – there are friends and family, neighbours and roomies, little ones and older ones, guys and gals, singles and couples, married-with-children, extended families, those with blogs, and those without, old faithfuls, and new faces too.

To celebrate 60 years of Indian Independence we covered quite some ground. The South was fully represented by Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh; Maharashtra held up the west; from the east we had Orissa and West Bengal; and North was represented by Delhi, and Punjab. And we also had participation from the Western World – USA! And everyone dressed up too! Yay!

Though the occasion was a bit sombre, no one was serious. There was much banter and merry making, poking and sharing, and name-calling too (a lot, come to think of it!), but all in good humor.

I am so glad all of you came to make this Mad Tea Party possible. The idea behind the poori-bhaji was not healthy-eating-be-damned but to check ourselves from going totally overboard. We do need to include some good fats in our daily diet. Our brains are, after all, pure fat! I think Neroli’s words capture the magic behind the poori (and the intent behind this event) perfectly:

When the first circle of dough went into the hot oil, it bubbled happily and seemed to burst with joy, and I laughed out loud.

Come here, LG, I said, look at this!

Naah, well…okay, he said. Okay, all right, let me get my stool.

LG, perched on his stool, stood at the stove by my side as I splashed the top of that first puri with oil, and then flipped it. He watched with much exclamation as it continued to balloon and as I carefully brought it out from the oil to drain on kitchen paper. We both admired its beautiful, happy golden, glistening roundness. It was too lovely for words.

The next thing that I know, dear reader, LG has completely taken over the stove: he is using tongs to pick up a circle of dough to slip it into the oil; he is using a kitchen spoon to carefully splash oil on the top of the circle; he is checking the bottom, and flipping—his puris are puffing, and we are both wooping and clapping as if we were both tiny children.

Hey Anita,
Thanks so much for the wonderful poori party! My mom was so totally fascinated by this blog party- fun. I have deprived everyone in my home from puris for a long time i think (even though no one said anything). Thanks to u, i’m going to take a check on the fitness madness and give in to some spontaniety once in a while! You’re so right – it is indeed nourishment for the soul!
Loved all the wonderful poori recipes!
Hugs
Latha

Thanks indeed, Anita; you and your guests have moved me beyond words.
Without all of you, there is no party: joy is meant to be repeated and shared, and it’s been so wonderful to do so.
Magic, beautiful, and delicious—what a party you’ve all made!
My thanks indeed.

Anita,
Thank you so much for organizing this party. You did such a wonderful job! I am pretty sure I would never have attempted this had it not been for your poori-fest.Next, chapatis & achaars, please ;-)
You are so right when you say that food is not just fuel for the body but also nourishment for the soul!
I had loads of fun and am so glad that I was a part of it :-). Thank you, Anita :-)

That was a wonderful party, even though I couldn’t come. sob sob! But it lived up to yr blog’s name. We should do parties like this once in a while. Was fun to see the whole blogging world deep-frying!

[…]and that’s a lovely feeling, knowing that I can “whip these out” at whim now. And, perhaps most of all, thank you Anita for suggesting all of this puri-making madness in the first place! What a fitting way to celebrate 60 years[…]

I checked Food Blog Desam after 3 whole weeks yest..and I was confused to see so many posts on puri bhaji..I read the details today on ur blog…M so sad that I missed this mad tea party..It was a wonderful idea to celebrate the Independence day.. I hope u get more such fantastic ideas..I will surely participate the next time..
Swaps

Oh Anita…what a wonderful time I’ve had; my two guests even asked me why I’d been depriving them of such a thing as puris all this time. I assume I’ll be making more sometime, but it was back to dhal-chaval, haak-zamodud today! Thank you…

P.S. A few of my putty-tats =^.^= =^.^= =^.^= did join in by begging to taste puri-pieces.

Thanks for the impromptu party…it was so much fun to do it, and very different from an event, since one didnt have to think too much about ” what can and what shall I make !!!! “…I guess, its fun to have Mad tea parties once in a while….:-)
Absolutely. Keeps you sane!:lol:

Yippee!! Glad to come over to your party, good job of inspiring us to do these.
My doctor hubby says we all need to eat 30gm of fat everyday to keep our skin healthy and supple! One more excuse for me!;D

Hats off to you Anita!! That was one kind of a party. There are food blog events but this was totally out of the world….. one by one people came out of hibernation and churrned up ballooned puris! It was more like a puri bhaji revolution going around….

that was absolutely a finger licking round up..:)a hell of a party and what a delicious way to celbrate Independence day..
count me in to fix a lil something the next time you plan a virtual te’te-a te’te..:)

hi anita…
feeling really happy to be there on your party …not being a very good cook….i saw my name on such a marvellous blog…participating….thankyou so much for hosting it to us…the new ones…
thanks again !!!

Anita – Can’t believe that I also missed such a great party; I was away on holiday. I do plan on trying the recipe soon! Congrats on achieving a “century” (this from someone who only recently learned century was a cricket term!).

A ton, a century…very British, I guess. Do try the poori – it is much fun to make.

[…] getting impacted by research applicable primarily to the West. It somehow, eventually led to a poori frying festival! At that moment, I think the blog did take a life of its own. I hope it was a welcome change of pace […]

[…] food as a point of beginning. There was fun and trickery, food and drink, and periodic indulgences. But you know and I know that this blog would not be A Mad Tea Party without the jabberwocks and […]

[…] It was during my non-blogging days that Anita of A Mad Tea Party had organized the puri-bhaji party. Though I did not send in my entry, I did end up cooking it at home after seeing so many different […]

[…] fat, not idle – but I digress. We have another Party coming up. For the First one we all fried poori and served it with potato bhaji. For the Second Party we chose to share our deep fried love with batata vada in its many […]

[…] I know I know, Independence day party is long gone. But this is what we cooked in our cooking class yesterday. Yesterday’s class was an intimate group of 12 and everyone had loads of fun rolling the pooris. We made our regular pooris and spinach pooris. I am not posting the recipe here, since we have loads of versions here. […]

[…] that kind but it was quite by accident. None of the subsequent celebrations were a patch on that first party. From that party on, I have made a concerted effort to fry poories more often. Every time the […]